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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
Couldn’t finish this. Tried multiple times. I realize why the author touched on some of the topics, like Robert’s penny dreadfuls but honestly even that felt like filler when it kept being brought up over and over again! I’m not sure this subject needed a 300+ pages book.
informative
slow-paced
I was stuck for a while reading this one. Besides the part were Robert Coombes killed his mother, there isn't much remarkable about him. And that is only about one-third of the story. The part after he gets sentenced could be a bit dry from time to time but I did appreviate how Summerscale intertwined information about his family, friends and surroundings during the course of his life. It is clear that she wrote a thorrough piece and all if the jnformation is stitched together seemlessnes. Or maybe I'm just thinking thst because I never read other true crime biographies before?
This was a very fascinating story. At first I thought this would be the story of a horrible child but it turned out completely different. Very good book. *3.5
What well written historical nonfiction. I was especially interested in the information scattered throughout regarding mental health and psychiatry.
ARC provided by NetGalley
ARC provided by NetGalley
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
In the 1890s a boy kills his mother and then ignores the decaying body in the bedroom for over a week as he cares for his younger brother and pawns his belongings in order to buy food, clothes, and penny dreadfuls. But why? And what becomes of him?
5/5⭐️s
Five things about The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale.
1. The mystery is less about why or how and more about who this young boy becomes and the impact he will have on others.
2. This book is completely about Robert Coombes but it’s also about the amazing leadership and treatment provided at Broadmoore Asylum (this place was no Bedlam and we could learn much today from its approaches back then!). It’s also about the fight against penny dreadfuls and how some saw them as a major cause of corruption of young boys. The same exact arguments are used today to speak out against video games, movies, and music. It’s also about so much more!
3. This book is meticulous in its detail, utterly engaging, and thoroughly researched and documented.
4. While the story of the murder might be sensational and possibly the reason we, in a period obsessed with true crime, might pick up this book...Summerscale rejects the sensational in favor of fleshing out Coombes and guiding us through his life with empathy in order to reveal to us a complete human being. You might come for the murder but stay for the war hero and the story of a man who lives a quiet life and positively impacts many.
5. This is an incredibly humane book. I love everything about it.
5/5⭐️s
Five things about The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale.
1. The mystery is less about why or how and more about who this young boy becomes and the impact he will have on others.
2. This book is completely about Robert Coombes but it’s also about the amazing leadership and treatment provided at Broadmoore Asylum (this place was no Bedlam and we could learn much today from its approaches back then!). It’s also about the fight against penny dreadfuls and how some saw them as a major cause of corruption of young boys. The same exact arguments are used today to speak out against video games, movies, and music. It’s also about so much more!
3. This book is meticulous in its detail, utterly engaging, and thoroughly researched and documented.
4. While the story of the murder might be sensational and possibly the reason we, in a period obsessed with true crime, might pick up this book...Summerscale rejects the sensational in favor of fleshing out Coombes and guiding us through his life with empathy in order to reveal to us a complete human being. You might come for the murder but stay for the war hero and the story of a man who lives a quiet life and positively impacts many.
5. This is an incredibly humane book. I love everything about it.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Solid 3 stars. True Crime is really not my thing, but I found the historical and sociological detail interesting. The story centers on Robert Coombers, 13+, who in the summer of 1895 murders his mother, is convicted, and spends more than 15 years in Broadmoor (insane asylum), was discharged and immigrated to Australia, fought heroically in WWI at Gallipoli and Paschendale, and thereafter lived an exemplary life including being the guardian of a boy from a troubled home. Probably the creepiest things to me were 1) he slept in his mother's bed and even beside her after murdering her, and 2) he, his younger brother, and a family friend remain in the terrace house for over a week while the body rotted upstairs. The reason for the murder is uncertain; whether momentary insanity or as reaction to the mother's abuse of the younger boy will never be known. Robert Coombes was definitely peculiar at the time of the murder and the trial, but didn't exhibit those oddities before or after. This was a time when social Darwinism and phrenology ruled in the courts, neither of which would be considered today. I read this for my 2020 Reading Challengre (Mrs. Darcy "outside your comfort zone - true crime).
Painstakingly detailed. It's not a book so much as a report based on the historical and legal papers about the case.
Really interesting and the author clearly did an enormous amount of research to create the true crime/ novel-esque narrative that she did. A good look at household practices/ social norms and laws in the East End and for the lower class during the Victorian Era.
3.5 stars. I had really been looking forward to reading this book. The first half covered the actual crime and trial, while the remaining two pieces covered Coombes' later life. There is a twist at the end that I wasn't expecting, and it seems the author was not expecting either. While it wasn't as good as I had hoped, it was very interesting from a psychological point of view.